Checks for illegal modifications to bikes were made at the event in Heusden-Zolder in Belgium and the governing body has revealed that they have found something suspicious.

No firm details have yet emerged with the UCI due to address the situation tomorrow.

According to Sporza, the bike belonged to Belgium's women's under-23 rider Femke Van den Driessche, who abandoned her race with a lap to go.

"The International Cycling Union confirms that pursuant to the UCI's Regulations on technological fraud a bike has been detained for further investigation following checks at the Women's under-23 race of the 2016 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships," a statement said.

"This does not concern any of the riders on the podium.

"Further details will be shared in due course."

Technological fraud, which is also known as "mechanical doping", is a modern challenge for the UCI but there have been no confirmed cases.

It is feared that a rider could add a motor to their bike, or another advancement, in order to speed up their progress and the UCI has a clause against the practice in its rules.

On the track, Thalita de Jong won the women's race with the Dutch rider clocking 41 min 3 sec to beat France's Caroline Mani into second and Belgium's World Cup champion Sanne Cant into third.

The women's under-23 race was won by Britain's Evie Richards ahead of Czech rider Nikola Noskova and Dutch competitor Maud Kaptheijns respectively, while another Dutch rider, Jens Dekker, won the men's junior race in front of French pair Mickael Crispin and Thomas Bonnet.

The Championships conclude tomorrow with the men's elite and men's under-23 races.